What is Byteball? (GBYTE) | Beginner’s Guide

What is Byteball?

Blockchain technology has changed the way the world records digital data, but it also has deficiencies that have impeded its overall adoption and use. Hoping to avoid many of the issues associated with blockchain, Byteball has decided to utilize a completely different method to connect and verify its data entirely.

Unlike Bitcoin, which links blocks in a linear chain, Byteball joins newly uploaded information to its database by attaching it to multiple previous data transactions. Building upon each other, the transactions form a structure called a DAG (directed acyclic graph).

Although the platform offers immutable storage for any data type, it’s most noteworthy feature is its versatile conditional payment system. Simple enough for any user to understand, the smart contract system allows you to easily create and tailor smart contracts for any personal need.

Byteball Highlights

Byteball has a wide variety of functions that give it significant advantages over some of its blockchain competitors:

Multiple Asset Classes – Byteball can be used to store and transfer values of different asset classes such as currencies, bonds, and commodities.

Free Distribution – Unlike most cryptocurrencies that have ICOs for profit, Byteball has uniquely decided to give away most of its supply for free.

Conditional Payments – Byteball allows users to make simple risk-free conditional payments that only complete when the designated contract criteria are met.

P2P Insurance and Betting – Users can create customed tailored peer to peer smart payments that allow users to sell insurance to one other or to bet on specific world events.

How Does Byteball Work?

Byteball doesn’t have a blockchain nor blocks. Transactions are their own blocks and don’t have to connect in a straight chain; They’re linked to multiple previous transactions and form a structure called a DAG (directed acyclic graph).

Directed Acyclic Graph

Storage units, or balls, are linked to each other such that each storage ball includes one or more hashes of previous storage balls. Byteball connects transactions by signing the hashes of previous transactions to the new one.

This connection between storage balls not only consistently confirms earlier data put in the database but also establishes a partial order in which the storage balls can be referred to. Byteballs has no block size issues simply because it doesn’t have blocks.

The benefits of linking data to create a DAG include:

Instant Confirmation – DAG technology allows a transaction to get confirmation from Byteball peers almost instantaneously because the system doesn’t rely on miners to verify transactions.

Transaction Finality – Byteball’s system allows definite transaction completion alerts. This is unlike Bitcoin where the number of confirmations can be used to calculate only the probability that the transaction completed.

Lower Energy Burden – Byteball requires significantly less energy to keep its network working and secure than proof of work cryptocurrencies.

Byteball Core Features

Byteball comes with core features that make its platform extremely powerful:

Atomic Exchange – This removes the need to trust a centralized exchange. Instead, transactions between users happen simultaneously or don’t occur at all.

Multisignature Capability – For additional security, users can require approval signatures from multiple devices before a transaction processing. Additionally, multisignature capability creates a process for the exchange of shared assets that have more than one owner.

On-chain Oracles – Oracles are verified data feeds of world events that connect to the database. Users can use an oracle’s imported data to create custom-tailored provisions for any smart contract.

Immutable Storage – Once data is put into the Byteball database, it can never be changed or removed.

Byteball’s Currency “Bytes”

In Byteball, you must pay a commission using a currency called “Bytes” to add data into the database.

The name of Byteball’s currency directly reflects its value. Extremely intuitive, the number of Bytes you pay to add data to the database corresponds directly to the data size of your transaction. For instance, your commission fee to add 1 Kb of data would be 1,000 Bytes.

Commission fees create a consistent system of value transfer that aligns the interests of all Byteball’s stakeholders. It also prevents users from spamming useless messages to the database.

In addition to payment for storage fees, you can pay Bytes directly to other users for goods or services.

Blackbytes

Byteball has a second currency that can be used on its platform – Blackbytes. Unlike Byte transactions that are completely visible on the DAG, Blackbytes are significantly less traceable. Blackbyte data is not recorded in the public database; Instead, the transaction data is sent directly peer to peer.

Conditional Payments

Perhaps Byteball’s most innovative feature, conditional bound payments allows users to set a smart contract condition that must occur for the payee to receive bound money. If the payee doesn’t keep his or her promise (or outside data doesn’t meet the stated contract conditional criteria), you can safely take your money back after the designated waiting period.

Although other cryptocurrencies offer comparable smart contracts, the conditional payments system is truly unique because it’s simple and clear enough that any user can read and understand the smart contract they’re creating.

Oracles

Byteball’s conditional payment contracts become much more powerful since oracles are implemented in the platform. Oracles are basically trusted third parties who monitor specific world events and import their results into Byteball as a data feed.

Oracle-Based Betting and Hedging

Combining Byteball’s conditional payment smart contracts with trusted data feeds from oracles, you have the ability to bet on (or hedge against) major world events.

Byteball users can speculate on a wide range of events:

Sports Events – Bet on the outcome of any sports event in the world without the need of a bookie.

Weather Events – Hedge against extreme weather events that may affect your business or vacation experience.

Travel Events – Users can buy flight insurance that allows them to be compensated if a flight is delayed or canceled.

Political Events – Bet on the result of political events. Users can hedge business risk against undesirable political outcomes.

Price Events – Price oracles allow you to short any cryptocurrency without owning it. This is done by simply making a smart contract condition that is dependent on a selected coin’s price reaching a certain price threshold.

Free Distribution

Crucial to its success, the Byteball teams believes its technology must be widely adopted for it be successful. For that reason, 99% of all Bytes and Blackbytes are to be given away for free.

Byteball currently utilizes several methods to disperse Bytes:

Purchase Cashback – Byteball offers cash back at merchants and stores the company partners with. Normally, they rewards customers with Bytes equivalent to 10% of the purchase price.

Verification and Referral Rewards – Users are given $20 worth of Bytes when they verify their identity. Also, users who refer new customers also receive $20 worth of Bytes.

Distribution to BTC Holders

In the past, the team has distributed Bytes and Blackbytes for free to BTC holders and to existing holders of Bytes who have linked their accounts. They have now distributed 64.5% of its total supply for free over a total of 10 airdrops over the past year.

Summary of Dispersion Rounds:

1st round, December 25th, 2016- 10% distributed

2nd round, February 11th, 2017- 1.8% distributed

3rd round, March 12th, 2017- 2.0% distributed

4th round, April 11th, 2017- 2.3% distributed

5th round, May 10th, 2017- 2.9% distributed

6th round, June 9th, 2017- 6.6% distributed

7th round, July 9th, 2017- 11% distributed

8th round, August 7th, 2017- 16% distributed

9th round, September 6th, 2017- 5.7% distributed

10th round, November 4th, 2017- 6.1% distributed

Total Amount Distributed: 64.5%

Byteball Trading Info

Given away for free over the past year, Bytes have provided a substantial return for its initial airdrop participants. Byteball’s USD price movement has followed a bimodal trading pattern; two price peaks in summer 2017 and new year 2018 accompany mostly sideways price momentum.

Highly correlated to its BTC price for the most of last year, Byteball’s USD price has recently diverged dramatically from it. One possible explanation for this temporary separation includes the projects unusually high amount of announcements and platform updates that it has released over the last several months.

Byteball Quick Facts

Trading Symbol: GBYTE

Initial Distribution Price: Free

Current Market Price: $437.52

Current Available Supply: 645,222

Maximum Supply: 1,000,000

Where to Buy Bytes?

Bytes can simply be bought and sold directly in the Byteball wallet by using the Byte-BTC bot. Additionally, Bytes are also traded on select exchanges that include:

Where to Buy Blackbyte?

Byteball Wallet

Both Bytes and Blackbytes must be stored in Byteball’s own wallet. The wallet is available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Byteball’s wallet has two engaging features that separate it from competitor’s wallets:

Wallet Byteball Store

Sovereign Identity Verification

Wallet Byteball Bot Store

Available directly in Byteball’s wallet, the Bot Store gives users a current list of available chatbots. Many of Byteball’s features are already offered through the interaction of chatbots.

Smart contracts are created and interacted with by messaging different chatbots from Bot Store. Interacting with smart contracts is as simple as answering a few questions from a helpful chatbot.

Wallet Sovereign Identity

Byteball’s wallet sovereign identity feature allows users to connect their identity to their wallet. Users then have the ability to disclose their identity during payments if they elect to do so.

Identities are confirmed with the help of Jumio and the Real name attestation bot. Wallet identity verification is practical for payments that make a user declare their identity for legal purposes such as ICO events.

Byteball News

Byteball has announced a lot of major updates to their platform in the last several months that include the release of textcoins and as well as a partnership with Jumio.

Textcoins

In December, Byteball launched its textcoin feature. Textcoins allows any user to send Bytes to anyone with an email address even if the recipient does not have a Byteball wallet yet.

Payments can also be easily and safely sent through text messages on chat channels such as Signal, WhatsApp, and iMessage.

Jumio Partnership

On January 18th, 2017 Byteball announced its partnership with Jumio, a leading provider of identity verification services. With Jumio’s help, you can now securely link your identity to your byteball wallet and address. Additionally, you can publicly display the verified identity of your address for others to see so other users know they are sending assets to the right the address.

Byteball Team

Made up of a small team of less then five members, Byteball is lead by its founder and lead developer, Anton Churyumov. Churyumov has extensive executive experience in the tech sector as he is co-founder and CEO of Teddy ID as well as co-founder and CIO of Platron.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, Churyumov owns SMS Traffic, a Russian technology company that offers solutions and marketing for banks, insurance, and retail firms. Attending Moscow Engineering Physics Institue from 1991 to 1997, Churyumov received his degree in Theoretical Physics.

Conclusion

Connecting data into a directed acyclic graph rather than a traditional linear chain of blocks, Byteball attempts to solve many of the problems that have impeded the mass adoption of blockchain technology. Highlighted by its versatile conditional payments, Byteball offers a smart contract creation system that is simple enough to be utilized by almost any user.

Related

CoinCentral's owners, writers, and/or guest post authors may or may not have a vested interest in any of the above projects and businesses. None of the content on CoinCentral is investment advice nor is it a replacement for advice from a certified financial planner.

Johnny Sessa

Johnny Sessa is a blockchain investor with a dual-concentration MBA specializing in Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions. When he's not reading whitepapers, Johnny can be found complaining about how some horrible process should be improved.